Tone Kopelani (born 22 April 1978) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. In 1997 Kopelani played rugby league in the U19

Super League (Australia) Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australia and New Zealand for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during ...

competition for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

. He was selected for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

before returning to New Zealand and converting to rugby union. Kopelani made his debut for Canterbury as a flanker in the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship (NP ...

in 1999. He changed his position to hooker in 2001 and went on to play for Canterbury and Wellington in the

Air New Zealand Cup An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

and for the Crusaders and Hurricanes in the Super 14 Rugby competition. He was also selected for the

Junior All Blacks The All Blacks XV is the second national rugby union team of New Zealand, after the All Blacks. New Zealand's second national team has had numerous names in its history: Junior All Blacks, New Zealand XV, New Zealand A, New Zealand B, All Blacks ...

in 2007. In 2008 Kopelani signed with French club CS Bourgoin Jallieu in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

competition for 3 seasons. In 2011 Kopelani joined

FC Grenoble The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby (FCG) is a French rugby union club based in Grenoble and founded in 1892. FCG was champion of France in 1953–54 French Rugby Union Championship, 1954 and runner-up in 1992–93 French Rugby Union Championshi ...

in the

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

competition where they won promotion to the

. In 2012 Kopelani returned to New Zealand and signed with Northland in the

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Teknologi Mara, a public university in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia * Institute for Information, Tel ...

. In 2014 Kopelani graduated as a police constable from the Royal New Zealand Police College.

References

External links

Crusaders ProfileHurricanes Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopelani, Tone 1978 births Living people 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Crusaders (rugby union) players CS Bourgoin-Jallieu players FC Grenoble Rugby players Hurricanes (rugby union) players Junior Kiwis players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France New Zealand police officers New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Royal New Zealand Police College Rugby union hookers Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby union players from Auckland